Alumni+Success+Stories

Yuriko de la Cruz, Upward Bound Class of 1999


 * Graduate of Easton High School
 * Graduate of West Chester University, BS in Public Health, with a Minor in Nutrition
 * While at West Chester, received a Board of Governor's Full Tuition Scholarship, MCS Industries Scholarship, Martin D. Cohen Scholarship, N. Ruth Reed Scholarship
 * Currently employed as a Program Specialist at PROCEED, Inc, providing training and technical assistance to community-based organizations at the state and national level
 * Member of a small group of lead trainers for a CDC endorsed intervention program
 * Will begin a Project Management Certificate program at Lehigh University, Summer, 2010, and plans to apply to Columbia University for a Masters in Public Health for the fall of 2011

"Once I was accepted and enrolled as an undergrad, Upward Bound faculty and staff extended themselves by checking in on us – this was crucial because getting into college isn’t the same as graduating from college. All their support was instrumental because the foundation built during high school and subsequently during the beginning of college is a huge factor in a student’s ability to complete a Bachelors degree. The magic is really in the beginning years – the Upward Bound years.”

LaShawn Scott, Upward Bound Class of 1997
 * Graduated from East Stroudsburg High School
 * Graduated from Fordham University, Bachelors in French Studies, with a minor in Business Administration.
 * While attending Fordham, received several academic and sports based scholarships
 * Completed two years at Northern Kentucky University toward a Juris Doctorate
 * Employed with PNC Mortgage as a quality control representative
 * Current position is as a stay at home mother to a three year old son, and seven month old daughter
 * Wanted to let other Upward Bound alumni know she’s still running and will be competing in her first marathon next year

"Upward Bound helped me meet a diverse group of people, most of whom I wouldn’t have come in contact with otherwise. I learned excellent time management skills, which were very useful in college as a student athlete. I also learned the importance of taking full advantage of all the available resources while in college in order to ensure success.”

Kamilah Abdullah-Philpotts, Upward Bound Class of 2001


 * Graduate of Pocono Mountain Senior High School
 * Graduate of Temple University, Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education, Cum Laude
 * Completing a M.Ed. at Cabrini College, with a reading specialist certification
 * Employed as a second grade teacher with the School District of Philadelphia
 * She and her husband Kevin are expecting their first child during the summer of 2010

"I'm forever in debt to Upward Bound for holding my hand and taking me step by step through the college application process. I always knew I wanted to attend college, but since my parents only attended high school, the path to college was a bit cloudy. Upward Bound prepared me for the academic, social, and financial challenges of college.”  Diana Barrantes-Gomez, Upward Bound Class of 2006


 * Graduate of William Allen High School
 * Completing two Bachelors of Science at Penn State – Toxicology and Immunology. Will graduate May 15, 2010
 * Has presented across the country while an undergrad through research program with the TRIO Ronald E. McNair Scholars program
 * Will attend Johns Hopkins Medical School’s Immunology Graduate Program, focusing in Tumor Immunotherapy
 * Johns Hopkins has offered her full tuition, plus 100% funding as she completes her Ph.D.

Anthony Lucas, Upward Bound Class of 2003


 * Graduate of Liberty High School
 * Will complete a Bachelors from the University of California Berkeley in Spring, 2011 in Rhetoric, with a concentration in Oration
 * Has received the two year-$24,000 IDEAL Scholars scholarship
 * Is a legal intern with DLA Piper
 * Intends to go to law school in the fall of 2011
 * States he took the scenic route to college, where each road took him closer to understanding his mission
 * “I work for the Department of Industrial Relations, the Division of Works’ Compensation for the State of California. I’m also the current external vice president for the Queer Alliance Resource Center, and a board member to the Pacific Center for Human Growth.”

"On the academic level, Upward Bound provided me with a supportive network of instructors. I was able to receive academic guidance that simply wasn’t available to me in high school. If it wasn’t for Upward Bound, I wouldn’t have enrolled in college, or knew how to, for that matter. On a personal level, if it weren’t for Upward Bound, I am certain I would have ended up another unfavorable statistic.”

Jason Strauss, Upward Bound Class of 2001


 * Graduate of Freedom High School
 * Completed a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Society at DeSales University
 * Received a Presidential Scholarship while at DeSales which covered his tuition for four years
 * Received his Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University’s School of Law in 2008
 * Currently employed as an Associate Attorney at Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman, and Dicker LLP in New York

“Upward Bound was a great experience that strengthened my academics while really helping me develop as a person. It taught me to believe in myself, to become a leader, and how to socially interact with others. I still maintain amazing friendships with the people I met in Upward Bound who have been a source of never ending encouragement and strength.”

Gary Steinberg, Upward Bound Class of 2005


 * Graduate of Stroudsburg High School
 * Completed a Bachelors of Science in Neurobiology at Lafayette College, May 2009
 * Currently in Veterinary College at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and will receive his DVM in 2013
 * Has most recently been undertaking a research project in neurobiology, and will present his findings in Georgia this summer
 * Proposed to his fiancée in the summer of 2009 under the Eiffel Tower in France

"Upward Bound helped me with leadership skills, and taught me how to get my work done while balancing a busy hockey schedule. The academics kept me engaged during the summer so I didn’t miss a beat once I resumed school in the fall. In addition, I also got what Ms. HB called, ‘A dose of culture’: I met a lot of unique people, had a great deal of fun, and I’m still close friends with the individuals I met at Upward Bound.”

William Ojeda, Upward Bound Class of 2003


 * Alumnus of Freedom High School
 * Completed his Associates in Business Administration
 * Currently working on his Bachelors in Homeland Security at the University of Maryland
 * Enlisted in the US Army, has done two deployments to Iraq, and will be going on his third in May, 2010
 * He and his wife, Janel, reside in Colorado Spring, Colorado, and are expecting their first child at the end of August

“Upward Bound molded me into the person I am today. The program helped me while I was in high school to understand the college process and prepare me for the SATs. It allowed me to better myself and become much more responsible. I would like to thank the Upward Bound staff for everything.”

Tamara Byrd, Upward Bound Class of 2003


 * Graduate of Liberty High School
 * Magna Cum Laude graduate of Temple University, Bachelors in Liberal Arts with a minor in Business
 * While an undergrad received the Roland J. Wotring Scholarship, the Hispanic Business Counsel Scholarship, Minority Senior Student Award for the Highest Academic Rank, Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations of the Lehigh Valley Scholarship, The Martin D. Cohen Scholarship, and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Scholarship
 * Has been accepted into Philadelphia University’s MBA program for the fall of 2010, majoring in International Business.

"I'm a ‘sort of’ Upward Bound graduate. I had to stop out to get a job. Upward Bound was angry with me, but after I left the program, they still made the trip to Bethlehem to meet with me to help me write my scholarship essays, which paid for Temple. I’m confident that without Upward Bound’s help, I wouldn’t have been able to pay for college, and would’ve been forced to drop out due to financial pressure. Finally and most importantly, while an Upward Bound student, I spent my summers and Saturdays focused on the future, not in the streets.”

Danielle Condomitti, Upward Bound Class of 2006


 * Freedom High School alumna
 * Will complete her Bachelors in Graphic and Interactive Design on May 15, 2010 from Moravian College
 * Hope to complete an MFA within the next three years

"It's “It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how Upward Bound has helped me succeed. I know I rest a lot of my success on the program. The seminar classes I received during my junior and senior year were the most effective. I felt those classes prepared me the most for my first year of college. Also, English class helped me to improve my writing skills dramatically. I was able to write college level papers before college, and so I never received anything less than a B on a writing assignment, which is a huge success to me at a school like Moravian. Upward Bound taught me to believe in myself, and although that may seem hard to understand, it’s true and it really helped pull me through my first two years in college."